Self-closing hydrant



-2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No ModeL) J. BOWLING & J. LEE, Jr. SELF GLOSING'HYDRANT.

No. 330,776. Patented Nov. 1'7, 1885.

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N PETERS, FlvuhrL'flhogmp nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn a NITED STATES JoHN nowLINeAND JAMEs LEE, JR, or PLYMOUTH, PENNSYLVANIA.

SELF-CLOSING HYDRANT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 330,776, dated November17, 1885. Application filed August 18, 188 5. Seria1No.1/4,707. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, J oHN DOWLING and J AMES LEE, J r., citizens of theUnited States, residing at Plymouth, in the county of Luzerne and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSelfclosing Hydrants; and we do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form apart ofthisspecification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in that class of hydrantsemployed to furnish water for domestic and other uses, in connectionwith the ordinary supply of cities or other places where the system ofwater-distribution is under pressure. A difficulty has been heretoforeexperienced in the construction and operation of these hydrants, owingto the necessity of employing aspring, screw, or some other equivalentmechanical device to shut off the water after its flow was no longerrequired. If these devices were intended to act automatically, a springwas usually employed, acting against the pressure of the water to closethe valve. This spring, however, by constant use would lose itselasticity and fail to perfectly close the valve, thus re-. sulting in aleaky hydrant; or the spring would get broken, causing the flowof waterto be constant until a new spring was supplied, or other means taken tostop the flow. When the screw or equivalent means are employed to effectthe closing of the valve, it is fre quently leftopen,throughcarelessness, thereby entailing a waste of water, and itsoon wears out through the constant use to which a de vice of this kindis subject.

The object .of our invention is to obviate these difficulties byconstructing the operative parts of the hydrant in such a manner thatthe automatic closing of the valve is produced by the pressure of thewater in the mains with out the intervention of springs or other equivalent devices, thus simplifying the construction, reducing the cost ofrepairs,'and rendering the apparatus certain in its action; and theinventionconsists in the construction and arrangement of the severalparts of the valve and the devices by which it is operated, as will behereinafter fully set forth.

. In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a vertical longitudinalsection through the stock and the operative devices, showing the partsin the position they occupy when the valve is open and water flowingfrom the hydrant.

Fig.2 is a vertical section showing the valve closed. Fig. 3 is a detailview showing the connection of the operating-lever with the stem of thedischarge-pipe.

The stock A is preferably of wood, as it is cheaper than metal and formsa better nonconducting jacket for the discharge-pipe, consequentlyreducing the chance of injury to the operative parts of the apparatus byfrost; although it will be understood that a metal stock may besubstituted for the wooden one, if desired, without departing from thespirit of our invention. Into the lower end of this stock comes aservice-pipe, a, to which is connected, by a screw or other suitablejoint, the thimble B. This thimble is enlarged above the point of itsconnection with the servicepipe, and provided at its upper end with an 7internal screw-thread, which receives a similarjthread formed upon thehollow cylinder 0. This cylinder forms the working-barrel,within whichis placed the piston-valve D. That portion of the cylinder beneath itsjunction with the thimble is of less diameter than the internaldiaineter of the thimble, thus leaving a channel, 12, between them,which opens freely at its lower end to the service-pipe, thus allowing acirculation of water both inside and out of the lower end of thecylinder. A series of openings, 0 c, are made through this part of thecylinder, and serve to admit water through the valve 1) to thedischarge-pipe E when the valve is brought into a proper position.

When the stock is of wood, it becomes necessary to provide the cylinderwith some means by which it can be secured in its proper position in thestock and firmly retained therein. This we accomplish by providing theupper end of the cylinder with a series of tapering radial projections,d d, which enter suitably-formed mortises in the stock, and, inconnection with the screw-bolts which keep the two halves of thestocktogether, hold the cylinder, with its attached thimble B, securely inposition. The piston-valve D is provided with a peripheral groove, 6,which encircles it and is connected with the chamber f, formed in themiddle of the valve by a series of holes, 6. An elastic cup-washer, g,is secured to the lower end of the valve by a flanged nut, h, whichscrews on a stud, h, projecting from the lower side of the valve. Abovethe peripheral groove 6 is secured another cupwasher, g. This washer isheld in place by the coupling E, which is provided with a flange at itslower end, that, when the coupling is screwed down upon the upper end ofthe valve, bears upon the washer g and retains it firmly in position.Into the upper end of this coupling is screwed the lower end of thedischarge-pipe E, which also forms a part of the connection between theoperatinglever and the valve.

It will be observed that when the valve is in the position shown in Fig.l the water following the course of the arrows passes from theservice-pipe a, into the channel 1), surrounding the cylinder; thencethrough the openings c c in the same into the peripheral grooves e ofthe valve, and from this groove through the openings 0 6 into thechamber f, and thence upward through the discharge pipe E to the nozzleG, which screws on the top of the discharge-pipe and passes out throughthe mortise or slot H in the side of the stock. A flange, I, is formedupon the nozzle, and serves to close the slot H on the outside, as wellas to hold the nozzle in place, as the lower part of the flange is uponthe outside of the stock, while the upper part passes under thedownwardly-projecting rim of the cap J, which covers and is secured, bybolts or otherwise,

to the top of the stock, thus preventing any lateral movement of thenozzle or dischargepipe, but allowing a free vertical motion withincertain limits. A vertical extension, G, of the nozzle passes upwardthrough an orifice in the cap J, which orifice serves also as a guidefor the same, and has formed upon its upper end a tenon which enters amortise in the operating-lever K, and is secured therein by a pin, 13,which passes horizontally through the lever and an enlarged orificeformed in the tenon. By this means the lateral movement of the pin t",as the lever is raised and lowered, is not imparted to the extension G,and consequently does not affect the true vertical movement of the same,together with the discharge-pipeE. One end of the lever K is pivoted tothe lug L, which projects upward from one side of the cap and forms apart of the same. Diametrically opposite this lug is placed anadjusting-screw, m, by means of which the downward movement of the leverK is limited, its upward movement, together. with that of thedischarge-pipe and its connections, being governed by the collar n,formed upon the nozzle-extension G, which, when the said extensionreaches a certain predetermined height, strikes the under side of the,cap J,

which prevents any further upward movement.

As heretofore described, the movable parts have been in the positionshown in Fig. 1- that is, with the valve open and water issuing from thenozzle. In order to retain the parts in this position, suificientpressure must be exerted upon the lever K to overcome that of the waterin the service-pipe upon the under side of the valve. When the pressureupon thelever is removed,the valve rises automatically from the pressurebeneathv it. until the projection n strikes the under side of the cap J.The parts are then in the position shown in Fig.2. The valve havingrisen above the openings c c in the cylinder, of course no water canenter the discharge-pipe through the same; but this movement of thevalve brings the peripheral groove 6 of the valve in connection with thewaste-opening 0, through the side of the cylinder and stock;consequently all the water which may have been retained in thedischarge-pipe will pass out through this wasteopening, thus preventingall danger from freezing during cold weather.

The construction of the apparatus having been described, its operationwould be apparent to those skilled in the art; but to make it perfectlyclear we will recapitulate and explain its operation.

By referring to Fig.2 of the drawings it will be noticed that the valveD is above the inletopenings in the cylinder, and that the handlever Kis thrown upward, thus showing the valve closed, but the wasteo open. Itwill be apparent that when the parts are in this position and it isdesired to open the valve a downward pressure upon the lever will causethe valve to descend, first closing the waste-opening, and then bringingthe inlet-passages c 0 of the cylinder into communication with theopenings 6 e in the valve, thereby allowing the water to pass freelyfrom the service-pipe a to the discharge-pipe. On releasing the lever Kthe reserve pressure below the valve acts to close the same,this resultbeing attained without the aid of springs or other actuating devices,but simply by the force of the water.

If it should be desired that the hydrant re- -main open for a length oftime-as in supplying water for sprinkling-it is accomplished by turningdown the adjusting-screw m, so as to allow a greater downward movementto the hand-lever, and consequently of the valve, thus enlarging thespace in the elongated inletopenings 0 0 for the passage of water untilits flow is so free as to relieve the pressure below the valve andincrease it above until it is so nearly equalized that the weight of thehandlever and its attachments shall be sufficient to retain the valve inposition.

When an iron stock is used in place of the wooden one hereinbeforedescribed, it is provided with internally-threaded chambers near itslower end to receive the thimble'and cylinder, which have correspondingscrew-threads formed upon their outer sides, and are retained in theirproper position in the stock by simply screwing them into place.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent the following:

1. In a hydrant, the combination of the stock A, cap J, provided withadjustable setscrew m and projection L, lever K, pivoted into saidprojection, spout G, having extension G, fashioned with lugs n,passingthrough a perforation in cap J and secured pivotally to the lever K, thepipe E, and the valve D, all constructed, arranged, and operatingsubstantially as shown and described.

2. As an improvement in hydrants, the automatically-closing valve hereindescribed, in'

